# Good recent science books?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 6, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428 "2020-08-06T17:24:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/1 "2020-08-06T17:24:33Z")
From around 2010 to now. Any kind of science is good for me. Here is my recommendation.
[The End of Everything — KATIE MACK, ASTROPHYSICIST](http://www.astrokatie.com/book)
Author is a professor who studies cosmology. Just came out this week. About the universe and how it might end.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/2 "2020-08-06T19:48:43Z")
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us
Both are by Sam Kean.
I also recommend The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, by David Quammen.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/3 "2020-08-06T20:04:27Z")
I just bought a copy of _ **Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs** _. Haven’t read it yet, but it came highly recommended.
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### Author:  [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/4 "2020-08-06T20:16:59Z")
I’m waiting for the updated versions of Brian Greene’s The Elegant Universe to come out. He’s one of the world’s leading experts on Superstring Theory. There is a 2nd edition from 2010 currently available.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/5 "2020-08-06T21:13:56Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#):
>
> Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us
This was the first thing I thought of. Sam Keen has written several good popular science books, but this is the one that (a) I liked the most, and (b) I read the most recently. Its theme is the gases/chemicals that make up our atmostphere, but he uses that broad topic to dig into some compelling and fascinating stories and science.
> **[Caesar's Last Breath: And Other True Tales of History, Science, and the...](https://www.amazon.com/Caesars-Last-Breath-Sextillions-Molecules/dp/0316381659)**
>
> Buy Caesar's Last Breath: And Other True Tales of History, Science, and the Sextillions of Molecules in the Air Around Us on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
If computer science counts, I’ve recently read and enjoyed Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today’s Computers by John MacCormick. There have been several popular books published recently that are broadly about algorithms in some sense, but I really appreciated how this one explains in layman’s terms how some of the most important algorithms actually work.
> **[Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today's...](https://www.amazon.com/Nine-Algorithms-That-Changed-Future/dp/0691158193)**
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> Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today's Computers \[MacCormick, John, Bishop, Chris\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive...
Math isn’t really science, but if you’re open to math books, too, I can recommend some, like Ben Orlin’s Math with Bad Drawings and Change Is the Only Constant.
[https://www.amazon.com/Ben-Orlin/dp/0316509035/ref=sr\_1\_2?dchild=1&keywords=ben+orlin&qid=1596748016&s=books&sr=1-2](https://www.amazon.com/Ben-Orlin/dp/0316509035/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=ben+orlin&qid=1596748016&s=books&sr=1-2)
> **[Change Is the Only Constant: The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World: Orlin,...](https://www.amazon.com/Change-Only-Constant-Wisdom-Calculus/dp/0316509086)**
>
> Buy Change Is the Only Constant: The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/6 "2020-08-06T21:21:34Z")
> **[Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything:...](https://www.amazon.com/Soonish-Emerging-Technologies-Improve-Everything/dp/0399563822)**
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> Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything \[Weinersmith, Kelly, Weinersmith, Zach\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/7 "2020-08-07T16:36:38Z")
A lot of fun and should appeal to any Doper:
> **[Amazon.com: What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical...](https://www.amazon.com/What-If-Scientific-Hypothetical-Questions-ebook/dp/B00IYUYF4A)**
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> Amazon.com: What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions eBook : Munroe, Randall: Books
Very big, but worth a read if the topic interests you:
> **[Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity: Solomon,...](https://www.amazon.com/Far-Tree-Parents-Children-Identity/dp/0743236726)**
>
> Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity \[Solomon, Andrew\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
An engaging gallop through anthropology and how we came to dominate the planet:
> **[Amazon.com: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind: 9780062316097: Harari, Yuval...](https://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/0062316095)**
>
> Amazon.com: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind: 9780062316097: Harari, Yuval Noah: Books
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### Author:  [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/8 "2020-08-10T20:15:07Z")
I enjoyed it
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### Author:  [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/9 "2020-08-10T20:41:31Z")
I read a lot of science and history of science books, these are few that come to mind at the moment:
Midnight in Chernobyl Adam Higginbottom A comprehensive and sometimes horrifying account of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, including the background and aftermath. Thoroughly researched and well explained.
The World in Grain The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization
by Vince Beiser An entertaining look at how the humble grain of beach sand is the basis for modern civilization in ways both expected and unexpected.
The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World’s Rarest Species Carlos Magdalena A look at the efforts by the Kew Botanic Gardens in the U.K. to propagate rare plant species. Interesting to read and lots of nice pictures too.
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### Author:  [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/10 "2020-08-10T20:52:59Z")
The fascinating story of all the innovations to come out of Bell Labs in the last century. For me, the highlight is the development of the transistor, that invention that I daresay has had just about as much influence on civilization as any other. But all in all, a great and engrossing book.
> **[The Idea Factory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idea_Factory)**
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> Pages for logged out editors learn more
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> The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation is a 2012 book by Jon Gertner that describes the history of Bell Labs, the research and development wing of AT&T, as well as many of its eccentric personalities, such as Claude Shannon and William Shockley. It is Gertner's first published book.
> The New York Times said that Mr. Gertner's "portraits of Kelly and the cadre of talented scientists who worked at Bell Labs are animated b...
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/11 "2020-08-12T20:01:18Z")
> [@zimaane](#):
>
> …Midnight in Chernobyl Adam Higginbottom A comprehensive and sometimes horrifying account of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, including the background and aftermath. Thoroughly researched and well explained…
I highly recommend the HBO miniseries _Chernobyl_, if you haven’t seen it yet. Powerful and spooky: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9APLXM9Ei8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9APLXM9Ei8)
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/13 "2020-08-13T14:41:21Z")
_ **The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake** _
A great book that everyone should read.
> **[The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe (book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skeptics%27_Guide_to_the_Universe_(book))**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
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> The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake is a 2018 book meant to be an all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking written by Steven Novella and co-authored by other hosts of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast – Bob Novella, Cara Santa Maria, Jay Novella, and Evan Bernstein. It also contains material from former co-host Perry DeAngelis.
> In 2017, Skeptical Inquirer reported th...
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/14 "2020-08-13T15:36:56Z")
> [@zimaane](#):
>
> I enjoyed it
I started reading it last night. Very interesting and informative. In some places, it’s obvious that Brusatte at some point read Roy Chapman Andrews’ classic _ **All About Dinosaurs** _ (1953), as I did back in elementary school.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGuykhLZ5dM)
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/15 "2020-08-13T16:02:20Z")
Nick Lane, _The Vital Question_.
> **[The Vital Question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vital_Question)**
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> Pages for logged out editors learn more
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> The Vital Question is a book by the English biochemist Nick Lane about the way the evolution and origin of life on Earth was constrained by the provision of energy.
> The book was well received by critics; The New York Times, for example, found it "seductive and often convincing" though the reviewer considered much of it speculative beyond the evidence provided. The Guardian wrote that the book presented hard evidence and tightly interlocking theor...
This perspective is critical to understanding evolution and the origin of life, and I think it should be a much more important part of the curriculum in biology and evolution. It attacks some quite technical issues, so it won’t be an easy read for anyone without a basic science background, but he’s an excellent writer.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/16 "2020-08-13T16:10:34Z")
David Deutsch’s second book The Beginning Of Infinity just falls into your post-2010 time window. One of the greatest minds of our generation.
> **[The Beginning of Infinity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beginning_of_Infinity)**
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> Pages for logged out editors learn more
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> The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform the World is a popular science book by the physicist David Deutsch first published in 2011.
> Deutsch views the Enlightenment of the 18th century as near the beginning of an infinite sequence of purposeful knowledge creation. Knowledge here consists of information with good explanatory function that has proven resistant to falsification. Any real process is physically possible to perform provided...
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/17 "2020-08-20T14:42:01Z")
reading Chernobyl book , it is very good. HBO show on Chernobyl also very good
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### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/18 "2020-08-20T22:49:37Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#):
>
> The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
>
> Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us
>
> Both are by Sam Kean.
So I got both of those, and I found it a bit odd that the book on just air was twice as thick as the book on the whole periodic table. And I’m reading _Disappearing Spoon_, and I’m finding it oddly… basic. A bit juvenile, even.
Then I get to the acknowledgements, and see “I’m grateful to be able to write for young readers.” And I look a bit closer and there, in small letters on the front, is **Young Reader’s Edition**. [https://s.plurk.com/e8ed6c7eed76d2acd9dbf469f29fbec2.gif](https://s.plurk.com/e8ed6c7eed76d2acd9dbf469f29fbec2.gif)
Do you think it’s worth “rereading” the adult version at this point?
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### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/19 "2020-08-20T22:59:28Z")
(also wtf is smacky the smiley not showing up?)
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/20 "2020-08-21T14:37:52Z")
I would, because I think it’s that good.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428/21 "2020-08-22T01:59:13Z")
Thanks for all the recommendations. Looking back over my past 2 years’ lists, I was disappointed to see I hadn’t read anything I would really recommend.
Just read Sibley’s What It’s Like to be a Bird.
Very accessible - tho not terribly deep - discussion of all aspects of bird development, anatomy, behavior, etc. Done largely within the context of 90-ish essays of some of the most common N. Am. birds. Learned a few new things, and enjoyed remembering many things I had forgotten.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-recent-science-books/917428.md?page=2)